Sunday, May 29, 2011

My BEA book collection, part one

I'm just back from an invigorating yet overwhelming week in NYC for BEA and the book blogger con. These are the BEA titles that came home in my luggage, either because they were signed copies I didn't want to risk shipping or because I got them at the blogger con on the last day. My husband took the rest of them over to FedEx on the last day of the show.

Most of these were titles I mentioned in my post about historical fiction picks at BEA. There were many other titles on that list I didn't get, either because I didn't see them - like The Lantern - or because the signing lines were amazingly long. My back doesn't tolerate standing for long periods, unfortunately, so my waiting 45+ minutes in line for a signed copy of Alice Hoffman's The Dovekeepers just wasn't in the cards. I looked on jealously as I passed by.

I was pleased to come across a previously unannounced signing of Patricia Falvey's The Linen Queen, though - it's a love story set in Northern Ireland on the brink of WWII. Of the other titles above, Open Wounds is a new YA set in Depression-era Queens, and The Little Women Letters is a mostly contemporary tale about a descendant of Jo March from Little Women who finds letters written by her ancestress. These latter two were giveaways at the blogger con. As with last year, it was great to get the chance to meet so many bloggers, authors, and publishers in person when I was in NY.

Things may be quieter than usual around here, at least in terms of reviews, until after the Historical Novel Society conference in 2.5 weeks. There's a ton that needs doing before then, many loads of laundry included, plus I came home to three freelance assignments with shortish deadlines. One of these is the new Philippa Gregory, so that will be forthcoming in a bit.

They had quite a lot of The Taker at the BBC! More authors should take advantage of that opportunity to promote their books to bloggers. I'm impressed by how much you've posted while you were at BEA - I tried but I was pretty brain dead by the end of each evening.

Hi Sarah,It was so nice to meet you at BEA and BBC! I'd love to hear what you think of The Taker when you've had a chance to read it, particularly if you think I should reach out to the HNS. Diane Gabaldon is active there, isn't she?cheers, alma

Hi Alma - it was very nice to meet you too. If the photo that your agent took in your signing line came out anywhere decent, I'd be curious to hear! (Normally I don't photograph very well but there are occasional exceptions!)

I was glad to see there were extra ARCs at the BBC, as it meant I could grab an extra one to send out for review for the HNS. I'll definitely let you know what I think - my reading schedule should be back to normal after the conference is over. You're right - Diana has been a member of the HNS for a while.

I wish we could have gotten together while we were there. I was talking with someone and saw you from across the room. By the time I got there you had moved on somewhere. It was so hard to meet anyone I actually knew because there were so many us bloggers. I wrote my first post about NYC but haven't covered the BEA yet. I shipped home 48 lbs. of books! I guess I got a tiny, tiny bit carried away and I didn't even get all the books I wanted. LOL!